Caractor Park
The Town of Lexington, in Lexington, SC, added a new park to a neighborhood that is considered underprivileged. Caractor Park was built on land to where 1/3 of it was an abandoned lot. Since, the Town could not rely on hospitality tax monies to pay for the park, as they did with Gibson Pond Park, the town turned to outside assistance from public and private companies. According to the proposal, Caractor Park included a total budget of $222,000 with the Town of Lexington investing only $62,000 into the project. As a result of community support and partnerships with private and public organizations, Caractor Park won the 2010 Municipal Achievement Award in the category population of 10,001 – 20,000 and the project was picked for McDonald's global publication, "Best of McDonald's Sustainable Supply," for demonstrating leadership and innovation in 'green' practices. Summary ' I. '' 'Overview In Lexington, SC, the Town of Lexington, with a population of 17, 870, added a park to an underprivileged neighborhood. Caractor Park is located on the west side of Lexington at 804 Hendrix Street. The park is the epitome of community vibrancy due to the fact that it is an example of community leaders, such as Mayor Randy Halfacre, and residents working together with private and public companies in the construction of the park. In addition to that, Caractor Park enhanced the quality of living for the surrounding neighborhood, ‘The Hill’. The purpose of Caractor Park is to benefit the historically low-to moderate income neighborhood with a family oriented place for children and adults to enjoy the outdoors. Caractor Park includes: a playground area, a picnic shelter, cover porch style swings, green space for picnicking, a spray fountain, and a bronze marker commemorating Willie B. Caractor. In essence, it took five years to obtain the property, with 1/3 of it being an abandoned lot, and four years to clean the space by clearing the landscape for the park. What started out as a small project to develop a new park transformed into buying additional properties for expansion, which caused the delays in the construction period, and it indirectly inhibited partnership with public and private donors to where area businesses and organizations have contributed more money to add amenities to the location. As a result of partnerships, fundraising, and getting the community involved during the beginning stages, Caractor Park was opened to the public June 14, 2009. ' II. 'The Community'' The development of Caractor Park was one of Lexington’s “top goals…to increase the number of parks available to its residents. Not only does Caractor Park provide recreational space for town residents, it also impacts the less privileged children and families living nearby. The community surrounding the park is the Hill neighborhood, which is a predominantly African-American community that includes some of Lexington’s poorest residents, and still remains one of the poorest communities in the area, which is evident when looking at the surrounding homes. Therefore, it becomes clear that the park also serves as an asset in rebuilding the community, which directly gives the residents of the Hill pride. ''' III. 'The Organization In the beginning of the project, local officials of the Town of Lexington started the planning for the development of the park. Throughout numerous meetings, town council staffs and a committee of residents worked together to devise a plan for the property that would benefit the community. With residents’ inputs and federal guidelines, that required the property to be used as a recreational space, the town council decided that it should be used for a community park since the area badly needed green space, and at the same time, the park would put the community into a positive light through enhancing the “quality of life and in turn attracting more businesses to the area.” In essence, this park furthers “Willie B. Caractor’s goals to clean up this area and provide more for its residents.” ' IV. 'Success'' After the development of the park, the Town of Lexington was recognized by the State of South Carolina with the 2009 "Municipal Project of the Year" award and next year, won the 2010 Municipal Achievement Award in the category population of 10,001 – 20,000. The Municipal Association of South Carolina’s Municipal Achievement Awards Program recognizes successful and innovative municipal projects. In particular, Caractor Park is an example of a project that established partnerships and community support, which directly improved the quality of life for citizens and added value to the community. Along with the Municipal Achievement Award, Caractor Park was the first public-private partnership of this magnitude in the town’s history to where volunteers from the community and corporate donors helped develop plans and worked to landscape the park. As a result of that partnership, the Caractor Park project was picked for McDonald's global publication, "Best of McDonald's Sustainable Supply," for demonstrating leadership and innovation in 'green' practices. Along with that, the story was featured on McDonald's Corporate Social Responsibility Web site in April 19, and appeared in print at the 2010 Worldwide Convention. ''' V. 'Background Information Mayor Randy Halfacre described the history of the land as a “thriving barbershop” that was forced to cease businesses due to illegal drug activities. As a result of being a drug haven, the property was seized by the federal government, which caused a damper on the community’s reputation. Eventually, the deed of the land was turned over to the Town of Lexington in January 2005. Being a part of the council at that time, Richard Thompson suggested creating a “kiddie park” to be dedicated to Willie B. Caractor which Thompson stated, “was unanimously agreed to do so.” Remembered as a local educator and community leader, or referred to as the unofficial mayor of The Hill area of Lexington, the members of the community describes Caractor as a prominent leader, who had a “real keen idea about people coming together.” Caractor was key in helping secure two significant grants that benefited the Hill community by providing sewer service to more than 120 homes, as well as upgrading low-income housing for more than 20 homes. In the end, the revitalization of the seized lot “means a great deal to the people who live here,” as stated by a resident in the Lexington County Chronicle. ' VI. ''Finances According to the town’s proposal to organizations, the construction of the park included a total budget of $222,000 with the Town of Lexington investing $62,000 into the project. Golden State Foods of Lexington partnered with the Town to help see this project through to fruition. As a result, GSF Lexington gave a minimum of $20,000 into the creation of Caractor Park with the support of additional monies from the GSF Foundation and other local corporations as well. Thus, the Town proposed a total of $140,000 more from other donors. Since the Town of Lexington cannot rely on hospitality tax monies to pay for the park, as they did with Gibson Pond Park, the town turned to outside assistance from public and private sectors. With the town’s proposal for the amount needed to meet the total balance, donations came from different sponsors. The lead sponsors included: Golden State Foods Foundation, First Citizens Foundation, Lexington Medical Center, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, SAFE Federal Credit Union, and The Wachovia Foundation, and other contributors were: Publix Super Markets Charities, Calloway Johnson Moore & West, First Community Bank, Michelin, Junior Woman’s Club of Lexington, and the Lexington Civitan Club. The amount of money these sponsors donated were not disclosed, but it is accurate to say that it either equaled to the proposed amount or exceeded it since Caractor Park was built in 2009 and still prosper today.